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Version: 11.0

Checking if a job should run at all

Often, a job should only run if a certain test is passed. For example, an import task is to run subject to a condition, such as:

  • The user must provide a suitable filename
  • The file must not already have been imported
  • A stock amount recorded in the database must be down to a certain maximum.

You can include such a test at the beginning of the batch job using various means, for instance:

  • By using a table-base external set as input parameter set, and then defining constraints on this table that check the input parameter values.
  • By calling the job from a decision.

If you insert a separate test at the beginning of the batch job, you get better performance if the job fails, and you avoid unnecessary messages in status files.

Using a decision to check if a job should run​

To make job execution dependent on the user entering an (appropriate) filename in a dialog field F1, using a decision.

  1. Define a new decision D1.

  2. Define the following SQL statement for D1:

SELECT   'JOBNAME, datafile='||:F1
WHERE    :fname IS NOT NULL

  1. Define Yes Action:
job(:1)

  1. Define No Action:
message-error(You must enter a valid filename.)

  1. Allow the end user to call the decision, for instance, by setting the Action property of a dialog button to:
action-decision(D1)